ROUND & ROUND

Illustrated is an oval lugged basket form with an iron textured glaze on stoneware. The piece started out round, has a hollow lip, was pushed up to make an oval form and once leatherhard, the foot was tooled, carefully, and then notched to give it more interest. Last, I attached a handle to either side to give the pot more movement along the curved lip. Sometimes I become so blinded by the roundness of throwing, I need to be reminded that there is much more that can happen to a thrown pot, some with very little effort, yet changing the dynamic of the pot.

A TREK NORTH

Last weekend, my wife and I made a trek into NYC for a very specific reason, we were on our way to see the collection of Alice and Halsey North. For those unacquainted, the Norths are pioneering collectors and advocates for modern Japanese pottery. There is a wonderful catalogue of part of their collection by Joe Earle, entitled; CONTEMPORARY CLAY; JAPANESE CERAMICS FOR THE NEW CENTURY which gives a glimpse into the collection and its importance.

From the moment they open the door to their home, it is immediately apparent, the Norths, live with their pots. Directly adjacent to the door is a gridded shelf system that hangs on the wall like a kakejiku scroll painting, though this kakejiku is filled with dozens of small pots, many of which have larger versions about the apartment. As you walk about, it is obvious that the collection revolves around the Sodeisha movement and more sculptural pottery, though Hamada, Shimaoka, Warren MacKenzie, Randy Johnston and a number of the traditional potters are represented. The Sodeisha trio; Yagi Kazuo, Yamada Hikaru and Suzuki Osamu are represented as well as a number of other sculptural ceramists; Fukami Sueharu, Morino Taimei, Kondo Takahiro, Yaki Akira, Kohyama Yasuhisa and many others. The surfaces and traditions run the gamut from Iga and Shigaraki, Kohiki, Bizen, Mashiko, Seiji and surfaces characteristic of the new movement in Japanese ceramics.

As you take in the collection, the Norths point out their favorites and why many of the pieces speak to them. It is obvious, the pots and environment co-exist in an intimate and casual manner. The dialogue between viewer and clay is an ongoing exchange that animates the living space and creates a meaningful conversation among the pots as well.  As I mentioned the focus of the collection is more sculptural, but there are a number of functional pots intermingled throughout the home. Besides the MacKenzie, Shimaoka and Johnston pieces, there are pots by Tsujimura Shiro and sonYui, Otani Shiro, Kakurezaki Ryuichi, Mori Togaku, Kaneta Masanao and quite a few others. Actually, the blend of sculptural and function is well balanced and they share much more than material in common, they are the voice of Alice and Halsey Norths vision of pottery for the new century.

If taking in the North collection wasn't enough to make our weekend, the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) had a phenomenal exhibition of 20th century Chinese painter, FU BAOSHI (1904-1965). The large exhibit had works from early to late in his life and in a variety of styles Fu is well known for. A few of his large scale mountain scrolls and "The Mountain Spirit" were just ethereal and beyond words. For more than a thousand years, the Japanese had used Chinese art (and painting) as an inspiration, this exhibition clearly showed the indebtedness that Fu had for Japanese painters and paintings, particularly, Hashimoto Kansetsu, Takeuchi Seiho and Yokoyama Taikan. All in all a wonderful exhibit, a wonderful invitation from the Norths and a weekend that will linger in my memory for quite some time.

The top illustration is of a Japanese inspired alcove housing a bold weather beaten calligraphed plank by Tsujimura Shiro over a textured vase form by Sakiyama Takayuki (b.1958). The Sakiyama is a large, following piece which commands its space and echoes the environment of sea and sand of his home in seaside Izu peninsula.

(Picture taken and used with the kind permission of Alice and Halsey North)

HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

January and February are usually somewhat slow months for orders/commissions so I use the time to try out new ideas and do a fair amount of testing. In case it isn't crystal clear, I tend to do a fair amount of testing based on iron and copper glazes. Honestly, the potential for both is nearly infinite and the result are generally exactly what I am after. I recently tried altering an old soda based clear glaze I have by adding copper to it and didn't add a pinch of iron to temper the color. The initial results were quite good, giving me an Oribe style glaze, very similiar to the old lepidolite Oribe. I was rather pleased and moved onto the next phase of testing.

I threw a group of yunomi and white slipped them, using hakeme and kushime style decoration. Once bisque, I glazed up four of the yunomi and ended up firing them and various parts of the kiln. I guess I had forgotten a crucial part of this narrative, the original tests were not on white slip, but rather straight on  plain stoneware pods and rings. What came out of the kiln was a GREEN made brighter and greener because of the white slip. A simple overlooked issue, though now I know what to expect. I am thinking I will reduce the copper content and add .5% red iron to lessen the impact. It is not a bad green, but in person, it sure is green.

"What are facts but compromises? A fact merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease."   Bliss Carman  (1861-1929)

AN ORIBE FLYBY

I have always been fascinated by the methodical and thorough documentations carried out by NASA satellites and probes (though NASA's future is now in grave jeopardy from my perspective) as mankind pushes further and further out into space. As these probes, flyby, they take hundreds to thousands of images to accurately reflect the object in three dimension, topography and volume. The photographic documentation used by NASA has been an inspiration on my personal work ethic, regarding photographing pots that I am able to study and handle. I document these pots with a myriad of pictures, trying to capture all their details, their volume and space that they command as a three dimensional object. It is a tough job, but someone has to do it.

I am also always trying to expand my skill set and recently turned my attention to building video slide shows. This first video slide show documents a mentori Oribe chawan by Kowari Tetsuya. The chawan can be seen in a short article I wrote on Kowari-san here;

 http://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/search?q=kowari

Please bear in mind, this is my first attempt at this and I aimed at portraying the chawan, just like NASA portrays a tumbling asteroid. I hope this conveys the detail, attitude, volume and dimension of the piece.

AN OBSERVATION

"Observe things as they are and don't pay attention to other people." Huang Po (?- 849)

JUST A FORMALITY

A while back, I was approached to make a tea set for an individual that practices tea ceremony. The guidelines were simple; porcelain, a specific surface and the orientation was to be "formal" in style. In my mind, formal would mean for something to be within the parameters of conventional requirements. Well, honestly, that threw me, so more emails and pictures were exchanged as well as a lot of internet and book searches to establish what that actually meant. After the initial research period, I set on forms based on a historical Kyo-yaki set from the early 18th century. The forms are very formal, almost ridged, yet in hand, they work rather well and have a comforting, approachable feel. I showed the client the greenware prototypes to see if that was what they had in mind. Once approved, decorated, bisque and glazed, now the question was, how would they look after they were fired. The firing went off without a hitch and the set (and ghost set) came out rather well. The customer was happy and that is the bottom line.

Having thrown this set, I have now added these more "formal" forms to my vocabulary. Though they appear to be "no fuss, no muss" forms, getting them just right is a bit more time consuming than normal. Illustrated is a pair of more formal style teabowls. Each porcelain bowl are the high walled style, with lips that flair out just a tiny amount and have a notch cut in the foot to create some movement within the foot ring. Though these were not thrown as a pair, I decided to decorate both using the same pattern, one etched and the other with slip, both glazed in my iron yellow glaze. I am always amazed at how the same design in varying surface treatments can change the temperment and appearance of a pot.

A GOOD START TO THE WEEK

As a young kid growing up in the Sixties, my mother's pride in her Sicilian heritage was ever on display as the phonogragh was always playing Louis Prima. For those of you who are unaquainted with Louis Prima, together with his wife Keely Smith and Sam Butera & The Witnesses, he was the foundation of the "swing era" and Prima dubbed, the King of Swing.

This is a perfect song and vintage video for a Monday and hope it gets everyone into the swing of things!

LOUIS PRIMA; JUST A GIGOLO & I AIN'T GOT NOBODY

WAS IST KUHL?

Now I realize in a previous post, I have covered the potential pitfalls of discussing an object as cool. Does the discussion itself, negate the cool factor or do some things just transcend any taint from the intellectual excercise, to just be cool. Tooling around the web, including the omnipresent Wikipedia, cool has a wide variety of meanings, mostly subjective, but the general concensus is that it is a description of a visual, attitude or style that is held by many as an appreciated attribute and in many instances a sign or creation of a moment in time. From my perspective cool is about the presented attitude and posture, in this instance, a pot pocesses and conveys to a viewer. I am not talking about gimics, but an honesty and character that has something more than its initial visual impact to say to us. There are a number of such pots that spring to mind from ancient times to very contemporary pots, but few speak that language as well or as fluently as the works of Colin Pearson (1923-2007).

Illustrated is the epitome of cool, from my perspective, a teapot by Colin Pearson from the early 90's. Despite its somewhat unconventional form, it is a fully functional teapot, one set of wings act as a handle while the other acts as a spout. Interestingly enough, this teapot is illustrated in the book; THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POTTERY TECHNIQUES by Peter Cosentino in which it is an example of sculptural and abstract form with this commentary; "the surface treatment demonstrates the clay's texture, its malleable qualities and the immediacy of throwing as a means of both production and shaping". Granted, it is a pot you must accommodate yourself to, but it will function or can just sit idly by while you appreciate it and drink it its attitude. In a way, that sounds just like Jack Nicholson!

"Cool is a knowledge, a way of life."  Lewis MacAdams (b. 1944)

(Illustration used with the kind permission of a collector)

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

When I think about teapots, I think of all of the engineering and construction issues and opportunities. Even a simple thrown round teapot, poses issues of spout and handle placement, making sure the lid stays on when pouring, making sure the liquid doesn't pour out the lid as well as the spout, well you get the idea, there is quite a few things to think about. From my perspective, there is a fairly steep learning curve regarding teapots and even with the best of teachers and examples, some teapots are just not going to make the cut.

In making teapots, there are two distinct approaches that spring to mind, the first is the finessed form. Jeff Oestriech's thrown and constructed teapots (from the 1990's) are a very good example of this where the shapes and lines created, almost as pure geometry, are finessed to create simple and elegant form, as if the pot is in distinct motion. The second approach is the engineered form of which Bruce Cochrane is an excellent example. Many of his teapots from the 90's were made of thrown cylinders, extensively fluted with a base added and a top made by using the body as a temporary hump mold. Everything revolves around the fluted body, engineered to accentuate and mimic the various elements of the pot, right down to the handle.

Illustrated is a fluted form teapot by Canadian potter, Bruce Cochrane. The pot is a wonderfully engineered piece with a simple yellowish ash glaze over porcelain, with slight wood fired effects. At a certain level, this pot may seem baroque in inspiration, but as you study the pieces and the whole, there is nothing out of place or superfluous, it is simply narrating its story through line and curve to best fulfill its function while tempting the eye for another cup of tea.

http://www.brucecochrane.ca/about-the-artist/

LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL

There is a wide variety of styles and possible inspirations when thinking about teapots, from historical to the whimsical. Alice In Wonderland and the numerous interpretations of the story come to mind with the fantastical tea party held by the Mad Hatter. In making teapots for quite a long while, there are those pots that stem from such inspiration and become a mainstay in the vocabulary of forms that I use. The "cottage" teapot that I make is just such a piece. The style of this pot evolved from fantasy to function with an emphasis on keeping some fun visual appeal. The illustrated cottage teapot has a broad, stable foot and a handle and spout that serve to help animate the rotund form. The pot is glazed in a rich iron glaze with an oilspot style spiral decoration that reminds me of the opening credits to Irwin Allen's TV series; The Time Tunnel. It would seem, everything comes back to those years glued in front of the TV set!